1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storage systems and devices, and more specifically to a relatively thin, flat panel configured for winding and storing a sheet of fabric material or the like thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many persons who work with fabric as a hobby or as a small business have need to purchase and store relatively large numbers of relatively small sheets of fabric for future use. While this may be true of those who sew articles of clothing, it is particularly true of those engaged in quilting, where a relatively large number of fabric pieces, each having a relatively small area, are joined together to form the completed object.
Quilters often purchase relatively small quantities of fabric, e.g., one or two yards each of various types, prints, or patterns, when visiting a fabric store. The fabric is often set aside in storage for perhaps a considerable length of time until the quilter comes across a pattern or project for which the stored fabric would be appropriate. The storage and convenient access of such fabric in the home sewing room can be a problem, particularly if a large number of relatively small quantities of fabrics have been purchased and stored over a few years or so. Relatively small fabric sheets are often stacked atop one another in a closet or similar area until the sewer or quilter wishes to use a certain type or pattern. It can be difficult to access a specific sheet of fabric from perhaps dozens stacked atop one another, with any previous arrangement of such fabrics falling into disarray as the search for a given sheet of fabric continues.
Various impromptu solutions for the problem of fabric storage have been attempted in the past. An apparently obvious solution for the problem is to use essentially the same storage system as used in the fabric store, i.e., wind the fabric onto a relatively large and thick cardboard sheet or tube of some sort. Upon consideration, this is not at all suitable for the storage of a large number of sheets of fabric, each having a relatively small size. The size of the cores from which fabric is sold in stores, would take up more room than the small quantities of fabric wound upon the rolls or cores.
Perhaps more importantly, the fabric storage rolls or cores used in fabric stores are almost universally formed of cardboard. Cardboard and other paper includes some acid therein, due to the wood pulp from which it is made and as a result of the manufacturing process. The only exception is acid free paper, which is relatively costly and only used for very specialized purposes, e.g., backing for the display of photographs, very high quality books and the like, etc. The acids in the typical fabric storage core result in damage to the fabric stored thereon if the fabric remains on the roll or core for an extended period of time. This is not ordinarily a problem in the typical fabric store, where a bolt containing fifteen linear yards or so of fabric is generally completely sold within a few months or so. However, discoloration of the dyes or damage to the fabric itself is a likely occurrence when fabrics are stored upon conventional cardboard cores for an extended period of time.
The present invention provides a solution to the above problem, with a relatively small plastic panel particularly configured for holding and storing a relatively small quantity of fabric thereon without damage to the fabric during long term storage. The present storage panel may be formed of various types of plastic having various structures, and preferably includes means for gripping one edge of the fabric to start the winding process on the panel.
A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,005,787 issued on Oct. 10, 1911 to George H. Sibley, titled “Fabric Package,” describes a core for rolling fabric thereon, the core comprising a cylinder of corrugated cardboard material with the corrugations exposed on the outer surface thereof. The single face sheet of the corrugated material allows the material to be flattened readily, and expanded to cylindrical form by the insertion of a solid rod therein. The external corrugations also assist in securing the fabric to the core.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,012,267 issued on Dec. 19, 1911 to Frederick J. Motz, titled “Textile Board,” describes a built-up structure formed of some form of fiberboard (i.e., cardboard). The Motz board is relatively thick, as he uses a series of cardboard ribs or spacers between the two opposed face sheets of his board. Other than the Motz board being a reasonably rigid structure, the same points noted above in the discussion of the Sibley fabric storage device are seen to apply here as well.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,659,282 issued on Feb. 14, 1928 to George B. Scheffey, titled “Cloth Board Or Similar Article,” describes a board having a single ply of corrugated material covered by a face sheet over both sides thereof. The corrugations are aligned across the width of the board, rather than its length. This provides reasonable stiffness across the width of the board, but somewhat greater lengthwise flexibility is allowed with this configuration. In any event, Scheffey also specifies the use of paper materials (cardboard, etc.) for his board, which opens the door for the possibility of fabric damage, as has been noted further above.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,910,589 issued on May 23, 1933 to Chalmers M. Butler, titled “Cloth Board,” describes another board formed of stiff paper, i.e., cardboard or the like. Butler does not disclose the use of corrugated material, but he does add a rounded, slotted tubular edge along two opposed sides of the device in order to better secure the laminations of the board together.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,028,396 issued on Jan. 21, 1936 to Edward F. King, titled “Cloth Board,” describes a built-up board structure having opposed rounded edges formed of sheet metal with a series of transverse ribs therebetween. A cloth or paper cover is adhesively attached to the ends of the frame, with a tautening coating applied to the cover to cause the cover to shrink somewhat to provide a taut surface. It would appear that even if fabric were used as the cover for the King structure, the coating materials applied thereto could affect untreated fabric wrapped thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,828 issued on Nov. 22, 1966 to Joseph T. Yovanovich, titled “Cloth-Board Reel,” describes a built-up structure having two laminations of corrugated cardboard material. This structure is covered with a paper wrap. The only material disclosed by Yovanovich for his cloth reel is paper or cardboard. U.S. Pat. No. 3,682,816 issued on Aug. 8, 1972 also to Joseph T. Yovanovich, titled “Cloth-Board Reel,” describes a board having a similar external shape to that of the device of the '828 patent. The core of the '816 board differs in that it is formed of foam plastic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,999 issued on Oct. 9, 1973 to Joseph T. Yovanovich, titled “Cloth-Board Reel,” is a continuation-in-part of the '816 patent. The reel of the '999 U.S. Patent differs from the reel of the '816 U.S. Patent by having a discontinuous paper cover which does not extend around the semicylindrical edges of the board or reel. However, the majority of the surface is still covered with paper, with the disadvantages of such having been noted further above.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,640 issued on Oct. 30, 1973 to Andrew Piscatelli, titled “Novel Cloth Winding Board,” describes a process for molding a board of expanded polystyrene, i.e., Styrofoam®. Piscatelli recognizes the desirability of using a non-acidic material for a fabric winding board. However, his board is relatively thick in order to provide the necessary structural strength required of such relatively lightweight material. Moreover, Piscatelli does not disclose any means of anchoring the initial end of an elongate strip of fabric to his board to initiate the winding process.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,855 issued on Dec. 25, 1973 to John W. McLeod et al., titled “Winding Board,” describes a board formed of a sheet of corrugated cardboard which is folded to provide a hollow core construction having a substantially greater thickness than would be the case with two back-to-back sheets. McLeod et al. also cut through the outer sheet of the corrugated panel along certain fold lines. This facilitates folding of the corrugated sheet, and also exposes an edge of the panel to provide a better grip for the fabric as it is placed upon the panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,800 issued on Jul. 6, 1976 to Morris Firstenberg et al., titled “Cloth-Board Reel,” describes a board formed of two cross-laminated corrugations of corrugated cardboard material. The conventional flat overlay sheet normally applied to each side of each corrugation has been eliminated in the Firstenberg et al. reel, with only a single wrap of paper material surrounding the two corrugated laminates. The problems with such a paper external cover, with the acids normally found in such paper, have been noted further above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,285 issued on Nov. 21, 1978 to Robert E. Spruill, titled “Winding Reel,” describes another flat, box-like structure formed of a single folded sheet of corrugated cardboard. The device is more closely related to the folded corrugated cardboard device of the McLeod et al. '855 U.S. Patent discussed further above, than it is to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,075 issued on Jul. 17, 1979 to Ann E. Eubanks et al., titled “Thread And Yarn Organizer,” describes a relatively small, flat sheet of material having a reduced width across its midsection for winding yarn or the like thereon. The reduced midsection of the Eubanks et al. device is required to preclude slippage of the strands from one end or the other of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,872 issued on Aug. 9, 1994 to William R. Clubbs, titled “Protective Core,” describes a plastic panel or board formed of two relatively thin outer sheets with a series of webs or ribs joining the two outer sheets together, somewhat like corrugated material. The outer sheets are creased to facilitate folding and forming the panel as desired. Clubbs states that his panel or board is relatively flexible to allow it to be easily formed into a cylinder for use as a core in a roll of material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,961 issued on Jul. 16, 1996 to Marty J. Duckworth et al., titled “Fabric Shell,” describes a relatively large and heavy cylindrical device for holding a length of heavy fabric thereon for use in tire manufacture. The device is formed of plastic with a square section steel tube axle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,590 issued on May 7, 2002 to Cheng-Kang Kao, titled “Tear-Along Structure Of A Sheet Material,” describes the wrapping or rolling of a thin sheet of material having characteristics allowing it to be torn easily in only one direction. The material is wrapped about a core formed of one or more flat panels, and slit at the edges of the core panels. Kao does not disclose any specifics for the panel(s) used for the core of his sheet material wrap.
British Patent No. 1,117,540, published on Jun. 19, 1968, titled “Cloth-Board Reel,” appears to be related to the '828 U.S. Patent to Yovanovich, discussed further above. The drawings of the '828 U.S. Patent and the '520 British Patent Publication are identical to one another.
Finally, British Patent No. 1,277,687, published on Jun. 14, 1972, titled “Cloth-Boards,” describes a frame formed of tubular components and having flat end members. The structure is covered with a paper covering. The disadvantages of using paper as the contact surface for the long term storage of fabric, have been noted further above
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a fabric storage panel solving the aforementioned problems is desired.